Anthony d



A. D. BOULANGER, la.

LEATHER WORKING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED ocr. lo. 1918.

1,31 1,749. Patented July 29, 1919.

Suva/nto@ adapted to soften leathers `ANTHONY D. BOULANGER, .frigor EineEEIELD PARK, NEW JERSEY.

\ LEATHERPWOEKINGMACHINE,

www."

Specication of Letters Patent.'

' 'Patented VJuly 29, 1919.

. Application ineav octoberfio. 1.918. `seriaiiv'o. 257,648.

To all whom #may concern: i i Be it known that I, ANTHONYKD. BOULAN- GER, Jr., a citizen `o ii the United States` of America, residing at RidgefieldPark, in the county of Bergen and Stateof New Jersey, have l invented certain new andy usefulyImprovements in Leather-Working Machines, of which thefollowing is a specification. V My invention relates to machines forsoftening leather strips, andthe object` of myinv'ention is to provide an ineapensive apparatus,l simpleto-operate, rapidin action, and olif Y different `types with equal and great efficiency. j' f ,i

vIn the accompanying'drawings, l, FigureV v1 isa `broken,side elevation ofV a machine in which my linvention.is,embodied finv `one 4formv ,Fig.l 2 is a front elevation thereof; V.

Fig. 3 is a partial side elevation, showing a difl'erenttype ofwheel. I i y In the preparation of leather strips for industrial. uses and'the like,'it, is highly. de-

sirable to subject `them to aisoftening action, and this is particularly true of stil'l leathers which are normally so hardand inflexible that they could not otherwisebe used with success. Heretoforethe softening operation has` been Kperformedby hand--a tedious and expensive proeedure with results'fof 'uncertain', and varying character. The present invention providesa machine by which the softening operation maybe elected economically, rapidly, .and efficientlyv with a. uniformity and completeness "not hitherto attained.

i In the form here shown,`thefr a1ne15 of the machine carries Y bearings (l for working 'wheel 7, provided'with any. sort of friction surface 8 at its periphery to grip the leather strip whichis tobe worked'. "A sandedsurface is 'satisfacto y, but maybe replaced by anyl suitablesubstitute. I j

The lower half of the wheel is embraced by a cradle ,9, whichmis supported by end brackets 10, springs 11, and guidebolts 12, passing through thewend crosswbarsV 1?)y of the frame. By drawingdown on or loosening thevbolts 12, the' Spacing of the cradle bed from the wheel periphery may bevaried as needed to accommodate leathers of different thicknesses or textures. Moreover, adjusting nuts 14 ma be mounted on the bolts 12 at the front en of the machine to increase or decrease the tension of the springs 11 at this end of the machine. While the curvature of the cradle bed is such that it may be ar- `and. softensit, 'ed with thestrip `in ranged substantially,concentric to the wheel,

the adjustment, throughithenuts 14, is preferably such; that the front end of the cradle approaches the periphery of the wheel more Closely than at the back.` A return guard 15 rises fromtheback, of the cradle. This may be'offany suitable shape, but I have here shownit curved to follow the periphery of the Wheel. A hand-grip 16is mounted at the front of the cradle adjacent the wheel."1

a ofthe strip is held vstationary b the opera- .tor andthe upper end b release as soon as thewheelftakeshold of the fold c, the, free end (is, drawn` down betweenl the wheel and "they cradle bed, the 'fold'l progressively advanoingfrorn oneend'to the ,other ofthe strip. This" action breaks the fibers or the adhesion between `the fibersY of the 'leather i' The operation is re eatreverse position anc also withI the ystrip insertedon the bias, so as to brealthe' fibers not only inopposite directions lengthwise of the strip, but also in both directions transversely thereof." This renders the leather pliable and completely flexible 4in all directions. V I

If the operator should 1happen to let goat the-handgrip 16, the strip 17 is merely carried around by the' wheel and flipped, back to the operator by the return guard 15. The `working operation is repeated from five to `ten times, depending upon the stiffness of the leather and the degree ofr pliability desired. The operations `are very rapidly performed, and Iwhere the' strips are four or fiveY inches wide and twenty-'four to thirty inches long, several may beworked 'in a minutes time. The diameter of the wheel 7 is' about twenty' inches,and"fits width about ten, but, of course, these dimensions may be variously modified.

After the strip has been softened, it is ready for some uses as it stands. For other pu oses, it may be desirable to dye the eat er and then polish it, or to polish without dyeing. In such case the strips are Inasmuch asthe end passed:` to`ajpolisliing.machine of shown in Fig. Alternatively, al supplyv of strips may, besoftened; and the-frictiony wheel 7 be then replaced by a polishing wheel, such as shown in 6 being readily opened stitution.k In this wheel,` ries cross bars 18 of polishedglass orthe like. imity tol 4the polishing Vwheel that the bars 18 bear against the surfacefof-vthe strip 17 when thelatter is insertedsingle ply.y The polishing. operationconsists simply in` inserting the istrip and h lding itthe desired length of` time.. in the` Vposition shown in Fig. 3, after which the operator. reverses thepositionoffthe stripI so a's to polish the end previously held on thehand-grip. Inorder to draw the strip back againstthepull of the wheel, it ismerely necessary for the operator to depress the cradle 9 `a ainst. the pressure ofy the springs` 11 a. su cient distance to clear the cross bars. 18.

I;A amaware thatmachines have long been known lfor rendering somewhat pliable leather in the form. of large skins.; Such ymachines zareshown .inthe patents to Hovcy, 25 3,533 Vaughan, 144,172, and4 Geipel, 95:1,317-` "'lhese machines areelaborate, eX- lpensive, l heavy,and-eu bersome affairs, slow in operation, and neither, intending., to nor actually securingithehextreme iiexibility and uniformity. of suppleness which` is attained by the use ofthe present machine. Nor are any of these prio-rmachines, s o faras I am aware, readily transformable intel a polishing .machine l t Various .modifications in construction will to permit such subreadilyv occur to those dealingwith the subject, andIg donotlmit'my, claim of invention tothe particular arrangementandfconstruction shown .on to .its use with any particular leather.

1. A machine for rendering leather strips supple,r comprising a ra]g idlyl rotated relatively narrow s'trip-working wheel, a cradle partially surrounding but slightly spaced from the same and onestrip end stationary while the other strip end= islworked between thecradle and the Wheel.v l

2. In combination with a construction suchas speciiedinclaim 1, a return guard on the cradlejon the opposite sidev off the wheel from the y hand-grip.

G'opiesljoggthiapatent;may,bjhtained yfonive cents: elah, by vrandressiiig thecpnimissiqner of Patents, Y Washington, D, GJ-

Fig. 3, the-bearings4 the periphery.` .c ar- The cradle is readjusted'to such prox Ving a frictional gripping surface,

vmgsprings,

a hand-grip for holding 9.!In, a construction such as specified inv In. aconstrnfction such as specified in claim 1, means for adjusting the cradle toward. and fromv thefriction wheel at the hand-grip end ofthe cradle.

4:. The method of rendering hide strips- .supple which consists in passing the strips rapidlyi between a rotating drum ,and acooperating cradle, said to the drumatan angle to its'plane of rotation and being` subjected to a progressive fold at an .angle to its length on one pass A.and at amdifferent' angle on a sub-sequent pass.

5. The method of'.v rendering hide strips supple whichfconsists in passing the strips strips being presented rapidly betweenl'arotatingfdrumand a cooperating cradle, 'said `strips being: subjected to progressiefolds in one 'directionon one pass and in the opposite direction on a subsequentpass, andrat an angle to thelength of the stripon certainpasses whereby, the folding action ofthe drulm.V on all partsof the strips andl in variousA directions is secured to render the strips supple inall directions throughout their length. 6. A1,machine. forv working comprising a high speed working wheelhava yieldably supported cradlepartially surrounding the wheel periphery'but spaced therefrom to admita folded hide strip, and a hand grip at one end Aof the cradle and adjacent. the wheel `for holding a stripend while the remainderl vof the strip is drawn about the the periphery of the latter wheel between 7. Aum'achine forL werking hide strips,

comprising a` high .speed Working wheel, a

frame supporting thesame, cross barslat opporting springs between ,theA opposite ends of the cradle and the cross bars upon which the .cradle isr yieldably mounted.

8. In a construfitfon such ask specified in Aclaim- 8, guide bolts engaging the cradleand cross bars and ypassing through thejsupportsubstantially as described.

claim 8, means :at one endof the cradlefor varyingV the tension of thesprings while maintaining the normal position; of V.the cradle.

nameV to thisspecification.

-ANTHNY 1), BOULANGER, VJR. v

hide strips, l

In testimonyy whereof I have signed myJ t v9o and the. cradle in a'progressive.fold, sub- ,stantially as described. 

